Courage
by Hell-Flame-Narf
Summary: Henry Flemming..... another battle.. flashbacks? a lot of people said it was good


I don't own any of these characters. But post some reviews to tell me how you liked it (or hated it).  
  
***  
Title:  
  
Courage's Continuance  
  
I was excited. "We won! I shouted.  
  
"B'Gawd I think we did Henry, I think we did," a friend replied.  
  
It was a hectic day. I held the flag high. I was general. We walked along paths that were used regularly by our troops from other regiments.  
  
'B'Gawd, yer the worst regiment that I've seen in miles!" Jeered a fighter from an older, more experienced regiment.  
  
I still had blisters from running away in my first battle. They hurt like the devil. My head had healed a little, but sometimes it hurt so bad I wanted to just go crazy. We stopped at a creek. My men and I rested. We had had a long day. Today I had won a battle, kept the flag, and consciously became a man. I had my red badge of courage. Although it did not reflect on how I got it, it reflected on how I had become a man.  
  
Suddenly there was a flash of guilt, I had claimed the wound in my head was from a bullet.  
  
***Flashback***  
  
"Why, Why Why?" I stammered.  
  
"Let go me! Let go me!" The soldier screamed full of fear. I would not let go, I needed to know. He was so compelled to lean forward that he dragged me forward several paces.  
  
"Let go me! Let go me!"  
  
"Why? Why? Why?" I stuttered. Many thoughts were in my mind. Many different scenarios flew through my mind. I still could not understand why they were running madly. They probably lost, but I needed to be sure.  
  
"Well, then!" cried the man in a rage. He fiercely swung the rifle.  
  
From then on all I could feel was pain and agony. I sat there at the river with my fists clenched and eyes closed. My thought stuck on the pain. All that pa.....  
  
"Sir?"  
  
I opened my eyes.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
It was one of the new soldiers. They had just arrived shortly after we had won the battle.  
  
"Are you alright sir?"  
  
"Uh!" He didn't have to call me sir.  
  
"I asked if you were alright, sir."  
  
"Yea I'm fine." I was annoyed at this interruption.  
  
"I was wonderin where we were headed t'day."  
  
"Well right now we're restin here at this river."  
  
*Silenced bang* *Whizzzzzzzzz*  
  
"O Lord!" cried a fellow soldier.  
  
He attracted a rather small crowd. I walked over. "What's goin on here?"  
  
"I don't know Henry, He just started bleedin. I don't know how t' stop it. What d' we do?  
  
"I don't know. I really don't know." I was in awe. How could a man just start bleedin outta nowhere?  
  
"I can give yeh a lift," a soldier said to the bleeding man.  
  
"Thhannks," he replied weakly.  
  
"Well hurry up, bring him t' th' nearest camp." I commanded.  
  
The two men walked like a drunken man and his friend. They were pals. Best friends. I still did not know why he was bleedin like he was.  
  
Suddenly there was a shot fired. Everyone was down on the ground in a second.  
  
"What happened?" I asked. Thinking that one of our men had shot accidentally.  
  
"None of us did it."  
  
Then, we all heard a loud "boom" from a cannon in the distance. "We're bein attacked!" I cried.  
  
"Get into your groups! Dig your trenches. Make that in a hurry! This is no time to slack off!" I said in a rather commanding voice. There were a couple of groans and some 'yes sirs' then another cannon sounded in the distance.  
  
"Sir! They are advancing fast!"  
  
"Keep digging and get into position when you're done." I didn't know if they would finish in time. It was a gamble.  
  
I waved my flag high to show that we would not back down. There were sounds of "go, go, go" in the distance. So they were this close. "Git into your trenches! I don't care if they aren't ready, just git in em!"  
  
The soldiers moved quickly. What a day. A shot was fired. Again, it wasn't ours. I was getting nervous. When another bullet came, it flew next to my face. I took out my musket and fired a couple of shots. I had an adrenaline rush. "Fire at anything you see!"  
  
Just then, several shots were fired at a couple targets. Some at trees but mostly at the right targets. The problem was there were four people shooting at one person. "Conserve yer ammo!"  
  
I was sweating. There was too much goin on in one day. More shots were fired. We were actually driving the enemy back! But we knew we were going to lose. I was going to stay myself until they all had fled. I would cover for them. If I died I would be a hero. Everybody would forget about the lie, the lie I made to my generals when I fled. I yelled "Retreat!"  
  
Nobody listened. "I said Retreat! I'll stay here and cover for yeh." Some of the new soldiers ran but my friends and other loyal ones stayed. "I said Retreat!"  
  
Nobody moved. They did not understand. They just would not move. Finally, they knew they were going to lose and most of them fled. I got the rest to leave. They ran while I fired wildly at the enemy. It was, after the last live man fled, and the last body accounted for that it was my turn to flee. I shot a couple more rounds at the enemy and just as I turned around. A bullet shot into my arm. "AHHHKKGHHH" I cried.  
  
Then other bullets flew into my leg and body. I didn't want to die but I knew that death was inevitable. I just stood there firing my musket. My rifle was too hot to use. My hands were burnt, I was bleeding badly. What was I to do? I fired my last shot. It was badly aimed, the consequence of bullet holes in your body and blood loss. I went down. Some soldiers saw me but I wasn't paying attention to them. I was dieing. I didn't care. I was dying a hero. I smiled, well as much as a bleeding near death man with holes in his body could do, and death came willingly. 


End file.
